An injury to the Spain skipper in January forced the signing of Diego Lopez as cover but, with the 31-year-old having recovered, the former Villarreal man's form has confined Casillas to the bench.

However, Del Bosque, who spent 14 years as a player at the Santiago Bernabeu as a player and enjoyed three spells there as a coach, says everyone associated with the club should be grateful to the goalkeeper.

"A good Madrid fan must love Casillas a great deal," he told Colombian radio station W Radio on Tuesday.

"Like Casillas, we are sons of Real Madrid, the club that made us."

Mourinho is said to have a bad relationship with several of his players and Del Bosque feels it is natural that Casillas would prefer working with other bosses.

He added: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and Iker is within his rights to say he prefers Del Bosque or [former Madrid boss Manuel] Pellegrini as coaches."